AIQS Workbook 2026 FALL (4:15 Section)!

Summarizing Passage 4 from "Playing with Empathy" Group 4

4. The use of restricted choices serves a pivotal role in the creation of the player’s connection with the character: this metaphor of limitations extends through games with circumstances ranging from abuse to clinical depression to suicide, and in each case the player must wrestle with the knowledge of options outside the reach of body or mind. The decisions made by the creator of the game are laid bare for the player in systemic form, and the player in turn is invited to examine and reconsider the possibilities. (7)

Limited choices in games dealing with serious topics lets the player form a deeper connection with the character. Narrowing options in the game assists the player to place more focus on the character's mental and physical state. The creator gives explicit options for the player to consider different possibilities of what the character could do (Salter 7). In Gone Home, the creator restricts the items in the house that connect to Sam's story while also letting you to explore the house in your own order to figure out what happened to Sam. 

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